


Back to Before

by ragnarok89



Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, Drabble, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friendship/Love, Gen, Healing, Hopeful Ending, Internal Conflict, Kindred Spirits, Late Night Conversations, One Shot, Parallels, Platonic Romance, Post-Season/Series 03, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Recovery, Short One Shot, Talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:21:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22356325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ragnarok89/pseuds/ragnarok89
Summary: Drabble. “I thought that I could handle it, what happens after.”
Relationships: Arcee/Ratchet (Transformers)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	Back to Before

"It never gets any easier," Arcee said into the quiet room, the silence kept cool by the distant hum of air conditioning and Ratchet's tinkering with his machinery. She couldn't decide what she wanted to do more—keep talking or stay swaddled in silence. "The memories, the thoughts, the scars, and how one is forever changed."

Ratchet looked away from his work, startled, as if he had been broken away from a trance. He hadn't been able to rest since he was freed from the Decepticon warship. "No, it isn't easy. I thought that I could handle it, what happens after." He paused, pushing a tool away from him, his servos shaking. "I kept asking questions to myself, what if I have done differently, or what I could have said, what I was _made_ to do. I should have said, done anything. I could have, but I _didn't_."

Arcee frowned, her optics and mind tired but too awake to rest. She didn't want to leave Ratchet in this state, blaming himself, not when he was still reeling from his captivity. She had dealt with the what ifs, the endless questioning, the scars etching themselves within her. She made it through, and she wanted him to make it through too.

"Don't say that. You did what you had to do to survive, and you made it through." She walked over, her gaze meeting the medic's. "You can never go back to before, but we're here for you."

She placed her servo on Ratchet's, and his servos stopped shaking.

"I'm here for you."

Ratchet then vented out a heavy sigh, his optics meeting Arcee's, and he smiled tiredly, softly.

"Thank you, Arcee."


End file.
